Jacqui Smith: I am today publishing a consultation document, "Together we can end violence against women and girls", which seeks views on how to prevent and combat violence against women and girls. Copies of the consultations will be available from the Vote Office and placed in the House Library.
	Violence against women and girls is unacceptable, whatever the context, whatever the circumstances. This consultation is intended to raise awareness, discussion and debate on how together we can end violence against women, and overcome its debilitating impact on individuals, families and communities. Over the last 10 years this Government have worked alongside voluntary organisations to deliver a package of measures to protect women from violence and to support those who have suffered violence. Together we have made a real difference.
	The number of incidents of domestic violence has more than halved since
	1997.
	The rate of conviction in domestic violence cases has significantly increased. Now, the vast majority (72 per cent.) of perpetrators who have been charged and brought to court result in a conviction.
	The number of women killed by their partners or ex-partners in 2007-08 (72) is the lowest recorded figure for more than a decade.
	The conviction rate for rape cases when a case gets to court are at their highest for 10 years.
	The Government have successfully intervened in over 400 cases of forced marriage last year alone.
	We have taken a stand on human trafficking and rescued over 150 people through Operation Pentameter 2 led by the police.
	This is the first time we have consulted on how to combat violence specifically against women and girls. And it is the first time we have sought to take a cross-cutting approach to the offences that disproportionately affect women.
	My vision is that we can create a society in which women and girls feel safe and confident in their homes and in our communities, so that they can live freely, contribute to society, and prosper in their daily lives.
	I am proposing that we need to take more action to prevent violence against women; help women feel safer when they are out, especially at night; further improve the help women get when it is needed; and act to catch and convict perpetrators.
	I want this debate to engage with all sectors of society, with men and women, boys and girls. We need to identify what we can do collectively to overcome and end violence against women. As part of this consultation, we will be holding a series of regional events in every part of England over the next three months to enable everyone to tell us what they think. Discussion and debate are essential if we are to raise awareness of the scale of the problem, and to improve the confidence of women and girls.
	Violence against women is an enduring social issue affecting women and their children. We have done much to address the problem already, but we can all do more. We can end violence against women and to do that we must harness all our energies across Government and within our communities.